Alisdair Smith

Alisdair Smith AKA Wig is a skateboarder and artist from Birmingham, England

"As skateboarders we all understand that we have an ability to read architecture in a different way to other people. It’s a uniquely creative skill. But its not just seeing a rail or a ledge as a skateable object, it’s the fact we consider all the other elements that make it skateable without even thinking. The angle of the rail, the amount of run up, the texture of the run out and even how good the spot will look on film or in a photo.

It’s recognising artistic elements in the everyday that I find that even the least able street skaters, myself included, have an eye for and we can all recognise the connections between different form, line, shape, texture and space, without even thinking of it in those artistic terms.

Skateboarding breeds artists.

It’s probably why architecture is such a large theme within my work. I find collage often best lends itself to my work, even if I start intending to work in different mediums, it just seems that deconstructing images and creating something new using collage, is the most fun way for me to work. Though I do like to make zines and comic books from time to time too.

All the artists I love in skateboarding are so far away from my own style of illustration, however, it’s hard not to want to go make art when these guys are out there making such great work.